[JasonB]

Last night, Tim, Pete, Frank and myself got together for a little "Post-Masters" dinner. We talked about what went well this year, what kind of changes we can expect next year, and how we can prepare for them.

The key thing to remember is that the planning of next year's Masters will be an ongoing process....and we will meet a few more times at the end of the year to fine-tune everything. As always, ideas & suggestions throughout the year are welcome.

In no particular order:

(1) Tiers: very likely to move to a three-tier system:
Blue -- no higher than a SL4 in the last 12 months. Straight race to 3.
Silver -- all 5's, all 4/5 bubble players, and 5/6 bubble players based on criteria TBD. Straight race to 4.
Gold -- all established SL6 & SL7 players *and* all BCA players between C+ and A. Straight race to 5 and "A" players race to 6.

(2) Calcutta: may do this online during the week before, to free up some time for the day of the event. Tim will look into sites/software packages to do this. This site could also include a way to pay the entry fee online (i.e., Paypal) -- this could help eliminate no-shows. Players would only be able to bid on players (or themselves) *after* they've paid their entry fee.

(3) Food: well-received; may add 6-foot sub in addition to pizza next year. I think the amount ordered was just about right this year.

(4) Scheduling: all three tiers will play on the same weekend but brackets can be "staggered" a little bit to maximize efficiency. Blue Tier could start earlier and could be on a one-hour schedule; the other 2 tiers would start later in the day and be on a 1:15 schedule. The Finals for all 3 tiers could still be at approximately the same time, on Sunday night.

(5) Rules: in general we will stick with APA rules -- and it will take a strong case and majority vote to adopt any major rule modifications.

(6) Draw: could do it earlier in the week if needed; not sure yet. The problem with doing it in advance is it makes it harder to make last-minute adjustments (no-shows, late entries, etc.)

(7) 2007 Masters date: February is a very busy month (lot of weekends back-to-back) -- Tri-Cup, Jack & Jill, etc. We'll pick a weekend that is not a potential conflict and spaces out the events a little bit.

(8) Tables: we know all the tables are not in the same condition, but hopefully everyone will rotate between several different tables throughout their matches. We'll probably have to still use Tables 1 and 2, but move the brackets and schedule somewhere else.

(9) Scoring: may construct a "ball-counting" system for each of the tables by next year, so everyone will be able to tell the score on each match.

(10) Sponsorship: would like to get a few more sponsors next year -- which could go towards some really nice trophies and allow more of the cash to go directly to the winners.